


The Turnpike, Exit 9

by diacritical



Series: Universe [3]
Category: The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-16
Updated: 2014-09-16
Packaged: 2018-02-17 14:15:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2312546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diacritical/pseuds/diacritical
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Stuart accompanies Leonard to his grandmother's funeral, he gets a little glimpse at Leonard's family and their ensuing drama.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It will make more sense if you've read the first installment in the universe (Maybe It's Time for the Universe to Have a Reset), both to make you buy Leonard and Stuart as a couple, and because of a wee visit from a minor original character dropping back by.
> 
> I'm fairly sure I lifted Leonard's grandmother's name from another story I read. No harm intended, clearly I thought it was the best name out there.

"Who was that?" Stuart rolled over sleepily when Leonard hung up the phone, but stayed sitting up on the edge of the bed staring blankly at his cell phone in the darkened room.

"It was my mom. My grandma just died."

*

Stuart groaned to himself, booking the ticket from LAX to Newark. He wouldn't dream of telling Leonard that he was nearly cashing out his savings account, and Leonard was keeping his feelings close to his chest. He didn't outwardly say he wanted Stuart to come along, but the hints seemed obvious – mentioning how distant and cold his mother was, talking about his parents' divorce. But Leonard clearly knew money was always going to be tight for Stuart, and wouldn't ask him to come, and Stuart wouldn't mention to Leonard that he might have to ask his parents for another 'loan' if the royalties check was late again.

 

"I'm glad you were able to come with me," Leonard said quietly when they settled into their seats on the 747 red eye. “I know it’s not easy for you – to get away from the store, to pull together the money…”

"It’s no problem, this is important," Stuart said, kicking his bag into place under the seat. Leonard turned to stare out the window at the tarmac, silently folding his arms across his chest.

Stuart blinked awake when the plane touched down, and watched Leonard's knuckles tighten on the arm rest -- pulling away as soon as Stuart tried to slide his hand over. It was clear from the bags under his eyes that he hadn’t slept much, if any during the flight.

"I should probably tell you some things about my family," Leonard said as the plane taxied to the gate.

The traffic on I-95 provided ample time to be filled in on Leonard's mother's child rearing theories, his overachieving siblings, his father's affair leading to the Hofstadter's divorce, his grandmother's long battle with Alzheimer's, his grandfather's denial of the disease for years and years, and the strife when his mom petitioned the state for guardianship and had her moved into a nursing home.

Finally, Leonard pulled the car to the curb under a stately elm. Stuart glanced up at the house, a relatively nondescript Craftsman with a neatly trimmed yard. He started to unbuckle his seatbelt.

"This isn't it, there's one more thing," Leonard said, staring down at the parking brake. "I'm not really out to my family, yet, and this week doesn't seem like a good time to tell them, you know? My family isn't like yours, and there's going to be so many old fights brought up … can we just be friends for the week?"

"Of course, I completely understand," Stuart lied. They'd been dating a nearly a year. Sheldon was claiming they lived together under some formula he'd developed. A year, and he couldn't have at least mentioned Stuart to his brother or sister, to get the gossip train started? "But wouldn't Sheldon have told your mom, you said they were close? And aren't they going to wonder why a random friend tagged along for a funeral for someone I’d never met?"

"I asked Sheldon not to tell my mom, and they're going to be too preoccupied with the other fights to care much about you. Thank you, for understanding." Leonard shifted the car back into drive and pulled away from the curb, avoiding eye contact.

Eventually they pulled up to a different Craftsman, with the same neatly manicured lawn and shrubbery. Stuart briefly wondered if people sometimes walked into the wrong house while on autopilot in the evenings after a long day at work. He wondered if kids ever played in the yards. He knew Leonard hadn't – the Hofstadter children had been off working on their more practical exploits as children. Were all the children of Chestnut Street above average prodigies?

"Uncle Leonard!" Two small kids came running at them with open arms. Nice to know that there was a recessive normal gene in the family.

"Kids!" A woman, about Stuart's age, followed quickly behind, "We do not run in the house! Hello Leonard." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before tossing Stuart a curious look. "Hello?"

"Hi Katherine." Leonard gave her a quick, unreturned hug, "This is my friend Stuart, this is my older sister, Katherine, and her kids Nicolas and Marie."

"Pleasure to meet you," Stuart said, extending his hand. Katherine politely shook his hand, and turned back to Leonard.

"Where's Sheldon?"

"Pasadena. Why?" Leonard squinted at her.

"Oh, okay. I just thought … never mind. Anyway, everyone is out in the back yard having drinks. Why don't you put your things upstairs, and I'll tell everyone you're on the way out."

Leonard nodded for Stuart to follow him up a narrow set of stairs and into a small room on the second floor overlooking the back yard. Leonard stood back from the window, clearly hoping to avoid being seen, as Stuart dropped his duffle bag on the floor and sat back on the lower of the two bunk beds. He glanced around, and wondered if it had always been this devoid of personality, or Leonard’s mother just kept the beds for visits from the grandkids, and had long ago stripped the room of any childhood trinkets. All that remained were a few photos on the wall and a faded map of the world pinned over a small writing desk.

"We should get downstairs," Leonard broke the silence. "Before they wonder what's taking so long."

*

In the morning, Stuart tried to shower as fast as possible, remembering all the time he'd spent with limited hot water and how to use it as efficiently as possible. He pulled Leonard's robe tight around his waist and headed back for the bedroom to get dressed for the funeral. He found Leonard staring blankly at the mirror on the back of the closet door and staring at his mis-tied tie. 

"I can't seem to get the ends to match," Leonard said, aimlessly fiddling with the polyester material as Stuart pulled on the only suit he'd been able to find in the career wear section of the second-hand store that even remotely came close to fitting him. It was too big across the shoulders and in the sleeves, missing a button on the sleeve, and the cuffs were beginning to fray. Hopefully, Leonard's family would be more concerned with each other than his attire. Thus far they’d been true to Leonard’s word that there’d be too much infighting to give Stuart much consideration. Still, someone – Leonard’s sister-in-law if he’d caught the introductions correctly – had given him a knowing once over, before turning back to her husband, passionately debating the finer points of a recent circuit court ruling. Leonard’s mother hadn’t yet made eye contact with him.

"Are you doing okay?" Stuart asked, taking the tie from Leonard and retying it so the ends matched, then slipping it back over Leonard's head. 

"Sure," Leonard said, pulling on his blazer and snugging his tie up.

 

All things considered, Stuart hoped he had as good a turn out at his own funeral as the late Barbara Martin. Stuart ended up at the back of the church, making way for Leonard's extended family to sit to the front, allowing him to take stock of the guests. Her husband, two of their three children, and the widow of their late son. Then there were the grandchildren, eight including Leonard. Then the gaggle of great-grandchildren, ranging from just a few months to teenagers. There was an assorted group of staff from the nursing home where she'd spent the last ten years, a circle of friends around Mr. Martin, another group of childhood friends for each of the Martins' children. 

Just as the minister stood up to begin, the door creaked and two people slid in next to him.

"Beth?!" Stuart tried to keep his voice to a whisper, despite his shock at the familiar face.

"Stu! What are you doing here?" his former housemate whispered back, pulling off her overcoat.

"A friend. You?"

"This is my fiancé, Tom," she pointed at the older, but familiar looking, man next to her.

"Tom Hofstadter," the man politely extended his hand. Oh, now Stuart recognized the resemblance. Leonard hadn’t even mentioned the possibility that his dad would show up, but given Leonard’s recounting of the divorce, it wasn’t surprising that he might be trying to slip in unseen.

The service stretched on for ages, as it should for a 94 year old woman. Leonard’s aunt gave a sweet, if disjointed, recollection of her garden, Leonard cribbed from an NPR broadcast, and the cousins from his deceased uncle’s side of the family performed as a quartet. Friends from the nursing home got up and spoke about her love for charity knitting, and the staff talked about her lovely spirit. Finally, the priest gave the last blessing, and the recession from the church began.

That's when it got interesting. Leonard was the first to see his father. He tried to avoid eye contact, with both Tom and Stuart. Beverly was next to notice. Her stoic exterior cooled more than Stuart would have thought possible, and when they reached the pew Stuart could clearly hear her muttering under her breath. Tom kept his eyes on the ground, Beth cast Stuart a wary look. Before a conversation could actually start, Katherine stepped between her parents, keeping one hand at her mother’s elbow and her eyes straight ahead. Stuart could swear he heard Tom let out a sigh of relief that the scene had been averted – at least temporarily.

"So, what's going on with you?" Beth asked, making small talk while the church emptied out.

"Just here for a friend," Stuart tried to shrug it off. It was useless, no matter how long it was between their phone calls or birthday cards, they had a knack to pick up right where they’d left off. She was going to see through it in an instant.

"Uh huh, sure," she responded with a raised eyebrow. 

"How about we talk about you," he countered. "Engaged?"

"Just last week," she said, wrapping an arm around the older Hofstadter, "Somewhat unfortunate timing."

They made their way in the direction of the church's reception hall, where the wake was being held – Tom and Beth were going to veer toward one of the exits when Stuart went to join Leonard and the rest of the family. Before they could reach the exit however, Beverly bolted from the receiving line and was yanking Tom by the lapels of his jacket to the side of the room. Stuart wondered if she realized everyone could hear them, but also wondered if she cared.

 

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I knew the woman for almost 50 years, I’ve spent more time in that nursing home playing cribbage with her than all you combined."

"And you thought you could bring your latest trollop with you?"

"Don't talk about Annabeth that way!"

"Do you want to go get some fresh air?" Beth leaned over and whispered in his ear, clearly hoping to evade the argument between Tom and Beverly.

"Hells yes," Stuart said, following her to the side exit.

 

The cold wind nipped against Stuart’s cheeks as they stood under the eaves of the church. At least the freezing drizzle had stopped. 

“So, Tom didn’t tell me that Leonard was gay,” Beth said, pulling her jacket tighter around her shoulders. Stuart tried not to gaze too longingly at her scarf.

“He’s … it’s not my place,” Stuart said, kicking a rock under a bush. “He asked me not to tell anyone this weekend, with all the other family drama going on.”

“Yeah, Tom filled me in on some of it on the way here. How long have you guys been together?”

“Just under a year.”

“Wow, a year and he hasn’t mentioned it to anyone?” She cocked an eyebrow. Stuart couldn’t blame her, after he’d resoundingly declared that he wasn’t going to screw around with closet cases anymore when he’d been in grad school. Half a dozen times was enough, the mental gymnastics needed to parse that argument were too much.

Stuart sighed and nodded. He’d mentioned Leonard in an offhand conversation to his mother after around two months – and she’d been nagging him to meet ever since, even changing the Thanksgivmakkauh plans to have the family meet in California so that it wouldn’t be an imposition for Leonard to come by and say hello. 

“Let’s talk about your life instead,” Stuart offered.

It wasn’t long before the side door to the church opened again, and Tom, Leonard and Katherine filed out, just as Beth was flipping through photos from her latest show on her phone. 

“I’m really sorry, kids, I didn’t think it was going to go this badly,” Tom was saying as he adjusted his scarf. 

“Well, Mom, you know,” Leonard shrugged.

“Don’t worry Daddy, I think Aunt Edna was glad to see you, and the staff from the nursing home were glad you could come,” Katherine added.

“Beth, are you ready? Beverly was threatening to call the police.” Tom turned toward them, flanked by Leonard and Katherine. 

“Beth, it’s great to see you again, the kids loved your show,” Katherine leaned in to give Beth a quick hug. “You and Dad should come down to DC soon, the guest room is always ready, and the kids love to see you. But speaking of, I’ve got to get back in there and keep them and David safe from Mom.” She turned back to the door, leaving the four of them standing awkwardly under the eaves.

“Leonard, you haven’t met Beth yet. Beth, this is my middle son, Leonard.”

“Hi? I’m Leonard,” he looked uncertain, shaking Beth’s hand.

“Of course, your dad has told me so much about you,” she said, pulling him in for a firm hug. “How long are you guys going to be visiting?”

“We’re flying back on Sunday afternoon,” Leonard said, glancing between his father, Beth, and Stuart, clearly recognizing they all knew something he didn’t know.

“Well, if you can squeeze it in, we’d love for you guys to come up to the city, maybe have dinner,” Tom chimed in, “Beth has a great new show running right now, and we can all … catch up.”

*

“Come in, let me take your coats,” Beth was waiting at the door after buzzing them up into the nondescript apartment building. At first glance, the apartment was exactly what Stuart would expect an apartment owned by two people coming together well into adulthood would look like: an eclectic mix of tribal art that Tom picked up around the world, interspersed with Beth’s own artwork and pieces she’d been collecting since college, including one of Stuart’s.

“Your dad is just finishing dinner,” Beth continued, hanging the coats in the closet. “He made these herbed tilapia filets that are so good, and then we roasted some vegetables. And don’t worry, all dairy free. Follow me, I’ll show you around.”

“My dad … cooks?” Leonard said under his breath as they followed Beth down the narrow hallway to the rest of the apartment.

 

It struck Stuart how remarkably _normal_ Leonard’s father was. Sure, he was a distinguished academic, but colleges and subspecialties were filled with distinguished academics. All the cautions about his whole family being overachievers, being forced to give back science fair medals, not celebrating birthdays – was it all a product of Beverly? Had Tom been too busy on the tenure track to notice the apparent experiment she’d been running at home? But Katherine seemed normal enough. 

“So, Stuart, with the store and the commissions, you must not be the starving artist you always seem to be when we talk,” Beth said, sipping her wine. “After all, you had enough to fly all the way here to support Leonard during this emotional time.”

“We’re just friends,” Leonard interjected, smoothing his napkin. Beth and Tom both cocked an eyebrow at each other. “Good friends. I still live with Sheldon.”

“Who’s Sheldon?” Beth looked confused. 

“Leonard’s roommate,” Stuart explained, “Imagine a male version of Beverly.”

“Still?” Tom said, looking up from his plate. “I thought you were looking for a new place, a while ago?”

“That was 9 years ago, Dad. Sheldon’s not that bad – he’s mellowed a lot,” Leonard said. “He has a lot of good qualities. He’s generous, the rent is cheap in exchange for shuttling him to work, he pushes me to work harder on my research.”

Stuart shoved another bite of food into his mouth and refrained from adding that Sheldon was uncompromising and Stuart was pretty sure he listened to them having sex. “So, you and Sheldon have been living together for nearly 11 years?” Tom asked. “I didn’t realize you’d been in California for so long. Had I known you were going to stay after finishing your PhD, I’d have talked your mom into giving you the down-payment on a condo or something. No sense in throwing away money on rent.”

“The apartment is fine. It’s close to work and the grocery store, and really, it would be a hassle to move everything out with the elevator being broken.”

“If you say so,” Tom shrugged. “Waste of good equity if you ask me.”

Leonard shrugged again. It was almost a nervous tic, Stuart thought, the amount of time Leonard had spent shrugging his shoulders. Then again, as his mother had pointed out, he was the least accomplished of all the Doctors Hofstadter, juris included. Maybe shrugging was Leonard’s coping mechanism, he knew that no one at home thought it was smart, so he just shrugged his shoulders and assumed that everyone else knew more than him. It made Stuart wonder at what point did he get so battered down by the environment. 

 

“Tom?” Beth nudged his knee when the plates were cleared and they were sitting back with a round of tea. She’d been right – Tom made a mean fish. It made Stuart wonder more – had he taken up cooking late in life, after the divorce and the kids were gone, or had he always been an excellent cook, and Leonard was just an unobservant child? Perhaps herbs had been considered unessential, like birthdays and hugs.

“Yes! We have something we’d like to tell you boys!” Tom sat up a little straighter, smoothing the tablecloth. Stuart ignored the diminutive, not wanting to point out he was actually older than Beth.

“I know its awkward timing to tell you this, since you’re here for your grandma’s funeral. But I didn’t want to tell you in an email. Beth and I … we’re getting married.”

“Wha—“ Leonard’s jaw went slack.

“That’s so great, congratulations!” Stuart prompted, gently nudging Leonard’s ankle with the toe of his shoe. “Do you know when the ceremony will be?”

“We haven’t really decided yet,” Beth said. “With the unfortunate news about Barbara.” 

“Married? But … married?” Leonard stuttered. “But you and mom just got divorced. Shouldn’t you wait a while?”

“Leonard,” Tom sighed, “it’s been five years.”

“But – wait, really?” Leonard started counting backwards on his hand, before adding softly, “I didn’t realize I hadn’t been out to visit in so long.”

Tom shrugged. Maybe shrugging wasn’t a nervous tic, maybe it was just a family trait. “I’ve been bouncing around while looking for a new position since leaving Princeton, and I suppose I didn’t give you much incentive to visit. But you should plan to come out sometime this summer – Katherine and Beth have me taking proper vacations that don’t involve speed writing for out-of-field journals.”

“I thought he was joking when he told me you all wrote research papers and graded them for Christmas while growing up,” Beth said, pouring more tea. “Then he showed some of them to me.”

“You still have those?” The corners of Leonard’s mouth twitched into a smile. 

“Of course,” Tom said, “Your paper from 1992 on color absorption rates in eggshells was really helpful around the anthropology faculty with small kids the following spring. I knew you’d go on to do great research.”

 

Tom and Beth accompanied them to the curb to wait for a taxi, the rental car tucked away with the hotel valet. They stood on the curb, Stuart still cursing the late spring chill in the air while Leonard and Tom said their goodbyes for the evening.

“Dad? There’s one more thing I wanted to tell you,” Leonard said, taking a deep breath. “Stuart and I … he’s not … I mean, not _just_ a friend. Stuart and I are dating. That’s why he came with me.”

Tom nodded, unmoved by the news.

“You don’t … have thoughts on that?” Leonard looked a little nonplused at his father’s reaction. Or nauseated at having finally gotten the secret out.

Tom shrugged again. Stuart wondered how the family didn’t have back problems. “We all sort of thought you and Sheldon… and I mean, no one really brings new friends to a funeral. Anyway, it’s cold, and Stuart doesn’t look like that coat is terribly warm. I’ll give you a call later this week, if you want we can talk more about it then.”

“Wait, what? You thought me and Sheldon--? But what--? Why would--? What would make—“ Leonard started stammering. Before he could finish an entire sentence a taxi pulled to the curb and Tom reached for the door handle and ushering them inside before anyone else could swoop in.

“That … was not how I expected that dinner to go,” Leonard said, leaning back against the seat and staring at the roof of the cab. “Not at all.”


	2. Chapter 2

They were tucked back into their hotel room just after eight, bags packed and wake-up call scheduled. They watched half a movie on basic cable before getting annoyed with the editing for commercial breaks, and at a quarter of ten, Leonard flicked off the lights, planted a chaste kiss on Stuart’s lips, and rolled to face the opposite wall.

Leonard then proceeded to toss and turn. Every time he’d settle down, and Stuart thought he’d finally be able to drift off, Leonard changed positions, rearranged his pillows, let out a sigh… jolting Stuart back awake as well. 

Stuart finally caught a glance at the alarm clock – 11:45. He was debating getting up to go screw around on the wifi down in the lobby, when Leonard rolled back in his direction.

“I’m sorry I’m keeping you awake,” he whispered quietly, “I’m just having a hard time getting to sleep.”

Stuart was about to respond, while in the process of rolling over, when he felt the reason Leonard was having such a hard time falling asleep.

“Oh crap,” Leonard cursed at the double entendre, “I mean, not hard. Difficult. Never mind, I’m going to go take a shower and sleep in the chair.”

“Wait,” Stuart said, reaching out to put a hand on Leonard’s wrist. “Stay. Do you want to do something? Together?”

“We shouldn’t,” Leonard pulled his hand back from Stuart and rolled to face the wall. “I mean, who thinks about sex the day after their grandmother’s funeral?” 

“People who have spent the past four days thinking about life, how 94 years can be summed up in an hour and a half, watching other people deal with their emotions by lashing out at the people they’ve known the longest…” Stuart murmured into the back of Leonard’s neck, and draped his arm across Leonard’s shoulders, spooning against him. “You’re not a bad person for wanting some physical comfort, for wanting to be with another person.”

Stuart kept his hands in a perfectly platonic position, letting Leonard decide what to do next. After a minute of silence, Leonard laced his fingers with Stuart’s and guided them down his torso.

“How do you want to…” Leonard started to say, squinting to make out Stuart’s face in the dark room.

“Why don’t you just let me take care of you tonight,” Stuart responded, fingering the elastic of Leonard’s boxers.

 

“Wait,” Leonard said, running a hand through Stuart’s hair to get his attention as Stuart was kissing down his chest, just above his navel. “Do you think we could try something else tonight? Maybe?” 

“Absolutely,” Stuart said, “like what?”

He watched as Leonard took a couple of deep breaths, eyes focused on the ceiling. “Could we try … I think … I dunno … maybe … I would like … would you … in … in me?”

“Oh, okay, sure,” Stuart responded, a little surprised at the request. The first time he’d told Leonard that anal wasn’t his favorite sex act, Leonard had looked downright relived. “It’s just … I didn’t bring condoms with me.”

“Oh, right. Condoms.” Leonard bit his lip. “I forgot about that. I wasn’t expecting, I don’t know why I want…”

“It’s fine.” Stuart gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll run downstairs and see if the little shop behind the front desk has some. If not, there’s that pharmacy right across the street. Ten minutes, tops.”

“Wait, you’re just going to go buy condoms?” Leonard asked, incredulously. “But … people. They’ll see.”

“Yeah? So?” Stuart gave him a confused look. It shouldn’t have surprised him to hear that Leonard had only ever purchased condoms as part of a massive shopping trip, hopefully unnoticed between crackers and canned tuna -- it had taken Stuart six months to convince him to leave his glasses on and watch Stuart going down on him. 

 

“That was quick,” Leonard looked up from his iPad, quickly switching it off and sitting up as Stuart rushed back in the room, his face flushed. 

“I told you, that little shop is well supplied. Horrifically inflated prices, but well supplied,” Stuart said, omitting the part about charging it to the room, dropping the mini bottle of lube and three pack of condoms on the edge of the bed while kicking off his shoes.

“So, how do we do this?” Leonard asked, picking up the condoms and quickly setting them back down. “I haven’t … like this … before. I don’t know what I should do?”

“Don’t worry, and don’t think so hard, just lean back,” Stuart said, trying not to get tangled in his shirt in his haste.

“I mean, should I get on my hands and knees?”

Stuart tried to suppress a little smile, guessing at what Leonard had been googling. “Just, lean back. On your back. Relax.”

Finally shucking off his pants, he crawled into bed alongside Leonard. He pushed the covers down, and Leonard’s skin immediately prickled at the exposure.

He nudged Leonard’s thighs open, and felt him immediately tense again. Stuart settled between his legs and leaned forward to kiss Leonard again. Pre-emptively ripped open the condom package, and dropped it and the lube on the bed, within easy reach, but not so close so as to be distracting. He placed both hands on Leonard’s shoulders, massaging as best he could from the awkward positioning. He tried kissing his way down Leonard’s torso, finding his flexibility had diminished with age and resorting to wiggling backwards to be able to give the very tip of Leonard’s dick a few light licks. He tried to keep his hands moving, alternating firmer touches across his hips and softer touches across his thighs until he finally felt Leonard start to relax. 

When Leonard’s soft whimpers turned into louder pleas and he started thrusting into the air, widening his hips without any encouragement, Stuart uncapped the lube and squeezed a small drizzle onto his index finger. He kept his left hand on Leonard’s inner thigh, just resting it there, and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together to warm the lube, he then rested his finger against Leonard’s entrance.

“Ohhhhhhhh,” Leonard choked out, tensing up again, nervously wringing his hands over his chest. Stuart didn’t withdraw his hand, but didn’t press forward either. Instead he stroked back and forth across Leonard’s hole, slipping his other hand behind Leonard’s neck, and leaning forward for a sloppy kiss.

“You okay?” he asked when he pulled back. “You want me to keep going still?”

“Oh yes, god yes,” Leonard moaned back. Stuart smiled, giving him another quick kiss, and pressed firmer against Leonard’s asshole before sliding his finger inside.

He was rewarded with a guttural moan as Leonard pushed further down, taking Stuart’s entire finger in. He thrust a few more times, then rolled his hand in a wide circle, tugging at Leonard’s rim without pulling out completely, before finally withdrawing – planning to quickly add a bit more lube and a second finger. 

He’d planned to slowly tease Leonard open, taking his time to ease Leonard’s nerves – Leonard clearly had other plans, his whines quickly becoming more incessant, widening his hips, rocking them in Stuart’s direction. Stuart decided to meet Leonard’s enthusiasm, quickly pushing two fingers into Leonard then crooking them, swiftly finding Leonard’s prostate.

Leonard’s eyes instantly flew open and he let out a high pitched squeak, trying unsuccessfully to mask it with a cough. Stuart started to pull back, worried it might have been too much after all, but before he could completely withdraw his hand, Leonard’s hands moved to his shoulders and he managed to articulate a single word.

“Again!”

Stuart smiled, and pushed in again, as Leonard grunted his approval. Stuart rubbed the back of his prostate again, then made a slow scissor motion to further stretch Leonard open. He could feel his own member beginning to drip as Leonard’s panting grew more intense. He added a third finger, this time being sure not to hit Leonard’s prostate, but using his alternate hand to grab at Leonard’s balls, rubbing his thumb along his perineum. 

“If you … don’t … do it,” Leonard moaned, “gonna come.”

“I just want you to be ready,” Stuart responded, moving his hand back to Leonard’s leg, this time pushing it back with a bit more force, Leonard eagerly spreading his legs.

He slowly pulled his right hand free from Leonard, and wiped as much of the excess lube as he could on the sheets. He quickly rolled the condom on while Leonard impatiently rubbed at Stuart’s hip bones. He squeezed more lube into his hand, giving himself a few firm strokes to spread it over himself.

Stuart leaned forward, kissing Leonard firmly on the mouth as he lined himself up with Leonard’s entrance, close enough to tell that as the tip of his cock touched Leonard, the younger man started holding his breath, his eyebrows knit together. Stuart considered saying something, telling him it would be easier if he’d breathe, but he knew firsthand that that knowing to breathe and remembering to breathe could be very different in that situation. He pushed forward slowly, pausing once he felt Leonard’s warmth overtake the head of his cock.

He watched Leonard’s face for any signs that it was too much, that he wanted to stop, that it was too much, that he wasn’t prepped enough. Finally, Leonard let out the breath he was holding and unfurled his eyebrows.

“Is that all?” Leonard breathed out.

Well, that wasn’t entirely expected. Though, to his credit, Leonard realized it was a terrible choice of words as he was saying it – his eyes flew open and locked with Stuart’s.

“I mean –“ he started to say, but Stuart cut him off with a rough kiss.

“I know what you mean,” he said with a smile – eliciting a smile from Leonard as well. The smile turned into a broad grin, accompanied by a nervous chuckle until Stuart started to move his hips forward, millimeter by millimeter, until he was flush against Leonard’s body, when the chuckle turned into a loud moan. 

“That’s all,” Stuart said slyly, peppering light kisses down the side of Leonard’s neck. Leonard responded by squeezing /around/ Stuart. 

Stuart was pretty sure the face he made was in no way attractive, dignified, or sexy. But that … that was not a move he was expecting. He dropped his head, forehead to forehead with Leonard—

“Move!” Leonard implored, his hands planted firmly on Stuart’s shoulders, and his heels pressing into Stuart’s waist.

Stuart began gently thrusting, slowly at first to make sure Leonard knew what he was asking for. He’d begun to settle into a rhythm, carefully watching Leonard’s face for signs of discomfort.

“Do you like that?” he breathed out after a particularly deep thrust. “Is it good?”

Leonard nodded his agreement, eyes scrunched shut again, biting at his lower lip and moaning with each roll of Stuart’s hips. 

“Do you want more? Do you like this? “Stuart asked again, alternating his speed a little. To be honest, he didn’t really expect an answer. Just as it had taken ages to get Leonard to leave his glasses on, Stuart was still working on getting Leonard to verbalize what he liked and didn’t like during sex. Between being quiet to keep Sheldon from hearing, and numerous girls trying to train him out of his moans, whimpers, and unintelligible begging, Leonard had something of a noise complex in bed. Still, when the noises came out, Stuart couldn’t help himself, the timbre of Leonard’s voice stirred something in him, and all he wanted to do was keep drawing it out.

Noticing Leonard’s lip twitching, Stuart tried to remind him it was okay.

“Tell me if you like it, if it’s good for you,” he whispered in Leonard’s ear, “Do you want it more?”

He expected maybe a “so good” or “yeah, more,” or maybe even a nonsensical moan. He did not expect a chuckle. Leonard scrunched his eyes more, and moved the back of his hand in front of his mouth – not in time to cover the upturn of the corners of his mouth.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, before another chortle escaped. “It’s good.” Stuart could see him trying to maintain his composure, and quickly failing. In mere seconds Leonard had a smile spread across his face, and squinted on eye open to assess Stuart’s reaction.

“It did sound like I pulled that out of a porno, didn’t it?” Stuart conceded, trying to hold himself together, keeping a slow roll in his hips. 

“I think it’s the most pornographic thing anyone’s ever said to me,” Leonard said, broadly smiling and locking eyes with Stuart.

“Challenge accepted!” Stuart said with a kiss to Leonard’s Adam’s apple, before lowering his voice to the best sultry tone he could manage, “You like that baby? You like taking my big thick cock in your tight ass? You gonna be able to sit straight on the plane tomorrow?” 

“That’s horrible,” Leonard said, gasping for breath with laughter. Stuart tried to keep a straight face long enough for another deep, hard thrust, but ended up dropping his forehead to Leonard’s shoulder and dissolving into giggles himself.

“I can’t believe I just actually said that, “he said, brushing Leonard’s hair back off his forehead as the damp sweat caused the edges to begin to curl. “That was horrible.”  
He looked up when Leonard didn’t reply, and found Leonard to be gazing down his nose, looking more relaxed than he had since getting the phone call. 

“Thanks for coming, to Jersey, for … for everything,” Leonard said quietly, running his hand along Stuart’s shoulder blade toward his spine, down his back, and resting at the dimple over his ass.

“Don’t worry about it,” Stuart said. “Nothing I wouldn’t do for a _really good_ friend,” he added with a wink, and then a firm kiss to ensure Leonard didn’t take it the wrong way. Leonard eagerly kissed back, and it wasn’t long before he was losing sense of rhythm. Leonard was so tight and had finally coordinated his hands – one laced into the hair at the nape of Stuart’s neck, pulling him in for sloppy open mouth kisses, like he couldn’t get enough of Stuart inside of him, the other hand reaching back up behind his own head, gripping the edge of the mattress and trying to use it as leverage to push back against Stuart’s thrusts.

“Oh god, gotta come,” Leonard panted, “You almost?”

“Yeah,” Stuart said, gritting his teeth. He was close, but wanted to keep going, wanted Leonard splayed out under him _forever_. As he pulled back for the next stroke, he pushed his entire torso away from Leonard and shifted his own weight so he could sit back – angling one of Leonard’s legs up over his shoulders, giving him a view of his own dick, with Leonard’s ass stretched wide around it, and of Leonard’s balls tight against his body, and the bottom side of his cock, vein standing out, and the tip leaking with pre-come.

Stuart barely had to graze his thumb along the ridge at the head of Leonard’s dick before his whole body started to shake from the orgasm. Ropes of semen painted across Leonard’s stomach, almost reaching his chest. Watching as Leonard gushed again, his face twisted in a mix of pain and pleasure, Stuart dropped a hand to squeeze his own balls, just enough to send him over the edge. He could feel himself spasm inside of Leonard – sensitivity clearly setting in for Leonard, wincing at Stuart’s spasms.

Finally Stuart lowered himself, one hand gripping the base of the condom, the other pushing Leonard’s hair back. Leonard’s come was still warm and slippery as Stuart relaxed against Leonard’s chest while they traded breathy kisses.

“Amazing,” Leonard slurred, “again?”

“Already?” Stuart cocked an eyebrow and glancing up from where he’d rested his forehead on Leonard’s chin. “You always seem to forget that I’m an old man.”

Leonard moved to half-heartedly swat at Stuart’s arm, before dropping his hand to Stuart’s shoulder.

The squeeze around his softening dick was getting too much, and he quickly pulled out, hand still firm against the condom. Leonard let out a soft whine at the loss, and gave his hips an uncoordinated push to follow. 

Sleepiness was beginning to hit Stuart like the tide coming into shore. He finally rolled off Leonard, shivering as the cool air of the room hit his chest.

“Nooooo, stay,” Leonard waved a hand in Stuart’s direction.

“Messy, cleanup,” Stuart said, quickly kissing Leonard, before willing himself to actually sit up, then stagger to the bathroom to get a damp washcloth. He tied off the condom on his way, dropping it in the waste basket under the bathroom sink. He quickly wiped himself off, then ran hot, hot water hoping the cloth wouldn’t cool too much by the time he got back to the bed.

He tried to give Leonard more than just a cursory wipe-down, trying to get most of the lube off Leonard’s ass cheeks as well as the semen that had smeared across his chest. 

Too lazy to make the trip back to the bathroom to rinse out the washcloth, he figured that there were worse things they could have done to the towels and sheets, and tossed it on the floor. He crawled into bed and draped an arm across Leonard’s torso, pulling the blankets back up. 

He’d thought Leonard was completely asleep, but he rolled toward Stuart, pressing his face into the crook of Stuart’s neck, without saying anything before his breathing evened out, giving way to gentle snores.


End file.
